'Where are you from?' — A Microaggression

I hadn’t quite realized that the question: “Where are you from” was a microaggression until it was explained to me. You see, I’ve recently attended a seminar on microaggressions and unconscious bias—so I’ve been thoroughly educated. I know what some of you might be thinking at this point and yes, this was voluntary on my part. I figured it would be a treasure trove of material for this Substack and I was not wrong. But I’ve kept an open mind going in.

Of course this isn’t the first time that I’ve encountered the idea that this question is deeply off-putting. It is a commonly cited microaggression. What may surprise you is that I experience it…constantly.

The truth is that it has caused me some discomfort throughout my life. As someone who’s an immigrant and has spent a long time struggling with my own identity and seeking to desperately assimilate for so many years, what frustrated me about the question was that when it was being posed to me, it was akin to me somehow being “outed” —…